Charade
by Ritzzor-the-Almighty
Summary: "Is it really that surprising to you all? Personas are the manifestation of your true self, so tell me, what does that tell you about a person who has multiple personas? Do you really think they can be trusted?"
1. Welcome Back

_**Author notes: I'm so sorry, I made this simply on a whim I apologize for an inconsistent writing style and if the logic makes no sense.**_

_**Again I apologize for everything in advance.**_

* * *

It started out just like this a year ago. As much of a cliche as it is, it all did seem like just yesterday. Only a year ago did one mister Seta Souji arrive in the rustic rural town of Inaba to live with both uncle and cousin. The year's previous events held murders, mystery, and adventure. And it all started with a train ride.

Sitting in what seemed like the same spot as the last ride here, Souji watched intently out the window,enjoying as the tall grass rolled by. Many called him crazy for preferring the country to the cities, but here were memories that no amount of time in the city could replace. Checking his phone he went over all the messages he had received in the past hour or so:

"omg cant wait to c u!"

"I'LL SEE U SOON K?"

"MOG SENPAI I'LL C U SOON 2, BE READY FOR A KISS~ ;*"

It astounded him how so many of his friends had horrible texting grammar, he had even expected more from Naoto, but it seemed even she had her quirks. With a sigh he flipped his cell phone closed and shoved it back into his pocket listening to the rumble of the train tracks. It was almost soothing by this point in time.

He was visiting for Summer break today what with his parents gone on yet another overseas business trip. Dojima was more than happy to house him again as Nanako was practically begging to see him as well.. It would also be nice to see how much Inaba has changed since then. Yosuke did say that now the town and Junes were working side by side and there was no more rivalry between them. Just thinking about the memories of Inaba and the idea of seeing precious friends and family suddenly set his heart all aflutter and such cheesy lines. His daydream was cut short by the announcer's static voice calling,"Inaba." over the intercom.

Standing much too eagerly, Souji reached up for his familiar old duffle bag. Inside the side pouch was the picture they all took last year before he left. It was his prized picture. With a cheerful smile, he waited until the train came to an agonizing stop. The moment the doors swished open Souji made a hurried walk out. Already the familiar scent of Inaba assailed his senses. It was all so nostalgic and it gave him just the pick up he needed from that unbearable train ride.

As he expected, Dojima wasn't there to greet him, nor was Nanako. Everyone must be planning another surprise party to make up for last Spring Break's miserable failure. While not too thrilled about having to carry his bag through town, it would be worth it to see everyone up to the bright blue sky and shielding his eyes, Souji sighed with his calm smile before setting off for Junes.

Walking through Inaba was second nature by this point, but he never remembered it to be this bustling before. Familiar faces and strangers passed by without a nod in his direction, as they continued on their comfortable lives. Aiya was busy with customers today, as was the shrine; the fox was happy about that he was sure.

So many places brought back so many memories. It took everything he had to keep from breaking out into a run for Junes. Once the familiar shopping mart came into view his heart pounded excitedly. A cool rush of air hit him as he entered. He half expected to see Yosuke or Teddy waiting for him right there in the front where they usually waited for him on the weekends, but of course they wouldn't be that obvious. Turning the corner he headed for the elevators to the food court. Souji mentally flinched at the corner window right by the elevators, remembering how a certain rookie detective waited eagerly day and night for a chance to talk (Slackoff). The memory of that clumsy kind man almost hurt. However, now was not the time for letting bad memories get to him, no, now was the time to go see everyone. With confidence he strode into the elevators and took it up to the food court.

Their "Secret Headquarters." is what they called it. Looking back on it, it was silly yeah, but it helped cheer them all up in hard times. Their table was empty and available, but no one else was there. Souji paused tentatively for a moment wondering if they had only found better hiding spots than last time. Taking several steps forward it became apparent that no one was there to greet him there either. Odd, perhaps they were at Dojima's.

Well that meant a lot more walking in the opposite direction. With a dejected sigh, Souji turned around and adjusted his bag strap better on his shoulder. A small squeak, like that of a chew toy, caught his attention before he walked away. Turning his head to look back at the empty table, he chewed his lower lip for a moment before hearing the shuffling of feet and hushed whispers. He closed his eyes and let a smile overcome him as he turned his head back around just in time to see Kanji barely make his way into line of sight.

Yosuke, Yukiko, Chie, Naoto, Rise, Kanji, Teddie, Nanako, and Dojima stood there, silent with held in excitement. Teddie broke this silence with an excited wheeze before the whole group took that as their sign to jump up and scream at the top of their lungs,"WELCOME BACK!" before lifting their arms forward in an extravagant manner. Their little act left an awkward moment of silence as Souji simply stared on with his calm smile. He was happy,oh no doubt, but what was he supposed to do for their obvious wait of a reaction?

Thank goodness Nanako could wait no longer before breaking her pose to run forward with a squeal of happiness. Souji quickly set his bag down and leaned down with open arms as Nanako soon flung herself into his arms clinging to him had grown since last he saw her, but she was every bit as warm and sweet as ever.

"Welcome back big bro! I missed you!" she cried happily planting a soft kiss to his cheek.

Souji returned the action by placing a kiss of his own to her forehead, earning him an ecstatic giggle from her. Once it became clear than Nanako had just broken the ice, everyone took the opportunity to swarm their leader, Dojima standing by with a serene smile on his face.

Rise was the first to jump up to him, keeping true to her text she leaned up and kissed the very corner of Souji's was a nice welcome yes, but it still flustered him slightly.

Teddie tugged at his arm excitedly crying out loudly, "Sensei, sensei, senseeeeiiii~!" before being satisfied with a tentative pat on the head.

Chie came forward with a confident stride, her head raised high as she gave him a smug look, her now curled hair bouncing as she made a movement and gave Souji a rough punch to the shoulder. A sharp recoil,and rubbing of the sore area, Souji looked up to Chie with an attempt at a smile. Yukiko tapped her shoulder lightly and gave her a stern look, shaking her head in disapproval as she placed her hands on her hips. Chie merely giggled and gave an unabashed smile as she suddenly turned face and hugged him suddenly, burying her face into his chest. She pulled back before he could return the gesture.

Yukiko rolled her eyes and gave a warm serene smile before reaching her arms out and wrapping them around Souji's neck and hugged him tightly,

"Welcome back Souji. It's so good to see you again." she murmured gently.

Souji hugged her back with a small thanks before letting go. She smiled at him, pushing back a strand of hair behind her ear bashfully.

Naoto gently pushed her way through dragging Kanji by the arm.

"It's great to have you back senpai, we missed you." she smiled softly.

It was surprising how much she had opened up since last time, dressing now like a cute girl, not that she didn't look great before. However, Souji still needed to get used to Kanji's looks. It was such a drastic change for him, Kanji looked like such a good boy, and it was certain Yukiko did tease him about this. However, his mannerisms didn't seem to change, he still fidgeted nervously, scratching the back of his head before stuttering out some sort of mashed together gibberish that he assumed was a hello. Naoto discretely shook her head with a silent chuckle.

Souji nodded back in acknowledgment before looking to his side to see Yosuke, who was waiting patiently for his turn to say hi. Both boys were overcome with smiles as Yosuke held his hand up, "Welcome back," Souji firmly grasped their hands together,"Partner." he finished with his mischievous grin

Everyone was here, they were all together and for the longest time, Souji had never been happier.

Chie bounced up and down excitedly, "All right, the gang's all together again! Oh man aren't you just PUMPED I feel like I could jump over an entire building!" she exclaimed mirroring (although exaggerating) Souji's happiness.

Yukiko nodded, "Oh definitely of course, we have to celebrate."

"Speaking of celebrating.." Rise butted in, "We all cooked you a special lunch." she chimed, affection dripped from her words.

The idea of the girls cooking sent a chill down Souji's spine and a cold shiver blew through him. As if reading his mind, Rise leaned forward, wagging her finger,

"Don't you worry senpai, we've been practicing and we've gotten SO much better." she assured him.

Teddie nodded, "Oh yes, the girls have nearly perfected their cooking techniques, oh and to be served food by such lovely women, it just makes the taste all the sweeter." placing his hands on his face he sighed deeply with a flushed pink dusting his cheeks.

Nanako rolled her eyes, "Teddie, you're so weird." she smiled happily, her now long hair swaying as she giggled. Souji smiled feeling a warmth in his heart, however, he noticed just one he hadn't said hello too yet. Quietly, per usual, Souji slipped away unnoticed to stride up to Dojima who prefered to stay in the back. He looked down from the sky as he head Souji approaching and gave his same old tired smiles,

"Hey there, you're looking well." he commented wiping his eyes. Souji nodded shifting his weight onto one leg,

"Thank you, how are you, you seem tired as always." he replied brushing back his silver bangs which were probably in need of a cut. Both were silent in a sort of mutual lock, each one saying nothing, but understanding everything. Dojima was probably still busy as ever, one of his occupation never had many opportunities to rest.

"Ahahaha, yeah work has been a little tough, but you know, your friend there, miss Satonaka, she's a real help y'know?" he motioned to Chie. Souji hummed in surprise, that's right, Chie did say something about joining the force and working under Dojima, it was her way of protecting her loved ones.

Knowing this, Souji smiled, it was just like her.

It wasn't long before Souji was discovered to be away from the group and Nanko had come to retrieve him.

"Big bro, c'mon big bro! Yukiko-chan promised us a fun day, we need to go!" she cried excitedly as she tugged on his hand.

"Now now Nanako, he just got back from his train ride, he might be tired." Dojima pat her head softly as she gave a little 'oh'.

Souji looked to Dojima, to Nanako, and back at his friends and shook his head, "With all due respect Dojima-san, I've rest on the train the entire ride here, I don't need to take a break when I could be with my friends." he said suddenly holding onto Nanako's hand.

Dojima observed him for a moment and gave a knowing smile, "Alright then, go on ahead and have fun." he leaned down to give Nanako a kiss on the forehead, "You'll be ok right?" he asked softly. Nanako replied with a big nod of her head and tightening her grip on Souji's hand, "Uh-huh! Of course I will, I've got my big bro with me and all our friends!" he declared proudly.

To this, Dojima laughed and stood up grabbing his jacket firmly in one hand, "Ok then, you all take care now, I think I'm going to go rest up a bit is all. I'm sorry I can't be with you." he managed to stifle a yawn.

Nanako shook her head, "Oh no, it's alright daddy, you go and rest up a lot ok?" she moved closer to Souji, ready to go play. Souji looked to Dojima and nodded in agreement. With that Dojima turned around, "Alright then, you both take care now ok?" he called out and walked away back to the elevators.

Nanako suddenly became energetic again, "Oh oh! I have to show you how good I've gotten at the piano now, I'll play you a special song tonight ok?" she grinned and suddenly Rise was at Souji's other arm, "Oh yeah, Nanako-chan has gotten so good, maybe someday she can be in our band and we can all perform together!" she added excitedly, clinging to Souji.

"I thought we said we weren't going to do that again." Yosuke called from behind them.

"I 'ain't stage diving again!" Kanji declared loudly in response. This earned laughter from the entire group.

- o O o-

The day was quite hectic indeed, it was if they had done all they could to cram as much as they possibly could into one day, Yosuke wanting to go to the movies, Rise to the beach, Yukiko wanted to go to Okinawa just for fun, Chie would have been happy doing leap frog at the park. Naoto and Kanji were ok with anything for the time being and Nanako was happy that day they even stopped by the Amagi Inn for that lunch the girls promised him. True to their word, they had improved greatly since they last saw each other, though Rise's dishes were still a tad spicy. Not only was it a taxing day for Souji's body, but also one for his wallet, in all the excitement he had bought way more useless junk than he needed for one vacation really. What he'd even use most of this stuff for was a mystery really.

Now later in the day with the sun down and the air cooler did the whole gang stop by the Samegawa flood bank for some relaxation.

"Ok, so while you were gone, there was this day, where we all thought it would be fun to go to Okinawa one day together, but we were just there for fun." Chie began already on the verge of chuckle, "So then Yosuke was acting all high and mighty and so I dared him to see if he could jump those garden walls and stuff. And he was like 'oh you're on' and he did it and he felt right on his face! You should have seen it it was just so great!" she cackled.

Yosuke sat up in his defense, "Oh ok, listen I told you, my foot was snagged on one of those thick knotty branches, I totally could have made that jump. If I can jump over huge ass shadows I can jump over public garden walls." he retorted.

Souji nudged Yosuke lightly and and motioned to Nanako, not so much worried about Yosuke cursing in front of her, but more because she still was unaware of the other world inhabited by the shadows. Yosuke was quick to backtrack and make up some other excuse but Nanako beat him to the punch.

"But Yosuke, it's impossible to jump over your shadow. I've tried, your shadow just jumps with you, it's just always there with you." she stated looking to her own shadow that the sun cast.

Suddenly everyone went silent to take a moment to look at their shadow. Nanako may not have known, but she was right in more than one way. As they stared, it was obvious to see the faces that overcame them, as if her words had unintentionally dug up an old wound. They all winced at the memory of their shadow selves and they winced to think they could see those shadows in their actual shadow.

Nanako seemed to notice the sudden change in atmosphere and scooched closer to Souji, "Did I say something wrong?" she whispered to him, cupping her mouth as she leaned in to prevent them from hearing. Souji leaned away after listening to her and shook his head calmly, which sufficed in calming her down for the time being. Honestly that took a turn for awkward quite fast.

Noticing that this might not have been the best time to have Nanako around, Souji stood clearing his throat to attract the attention of his teammates.

"I should probably be getting Nanako back home, besides you did say you'd play me a special song, right?" he asked softly holding out his hand for her to take. With a bright smile, Nanako stood and nodded eagerly, "Yeah!"

Suddenly the team was pulled out of their stupor and they quickly threw on smiles as their leader took his leave.

"Oh hey, no problem, we'll see you all again tomorrow ok?"

"Oh senpai I'll miss you! Be sure to think of me tonight~"

"Ok dude, see you later!"

"Be careful alright senpai."

"Bye-bye sensei, see you later Nana-chan!"

Exchanged goodbyes, waves,promises for tomorrow, it was normal, it was peaceful, it was

Rehearsed.

Typical.

Fake.

It was all just mundane actions, how many times have they all said goodbye like this? It should have been normal. Or maybe that was the problem? But why? Souji's friends were all smiling, happy, healthy, and safe. So why did their goodbyes bother him, they'd see each other tomorrow.

Putting his worried away, Souji found it best to not worry over little things like this, everything was right now. He looked to Nanako who was excitedly relaying the days events, she was alive and smiling. That was good enough. Inaba was safe, it's inhabitants blissfully unaware of the disaster that nearly befell them them just last year.

With a deep breath of clean air, Souji smiled and decided it was best to actually tune into Nanako's excited rant.

Dojima was awake from his nap by the time they got home. It radiated the same hospitable warmth as it did when he was last here. He even noticed the tiny soul tomatoes growing in the side garden he and Nanako built was just the same, the sight, the smell, and the looks.

"We're home daddy!" Nanako called. Dojima looked up from his newspaper and smiled, "Oh hey there you two, how'd it all go, did you have fun?" he asked with a warm chuckle. "Uh-huh, we went to the inn to eat, and then we went to the beach on the way to Okinawa and then we went back and stopped by the park and we just had so much fun, right big bro?" Nanako replied turning her big brown eyes on Souji who smiled and nodded happily.

Dojima stood and set down the newspaper,

"Glad to hear you all had fun, I know you may not be too hungry, but I got us something to eat for dinner tonight. Also, Souji I took your bag and set it down upstairs." he stated as Nanako let go of Souji's hand and headed off more into the living room and sitting down in her usual spot by the tv.

Souji glanced upstairs and nodded with a soft 'Thank you.' and sat down at the small table as Nanako pat the floor, signaling for him to sit down. On the tv was Marie, cheerful as usual, she was hyped and excited, she must already know he was here. She made a good point of showing that.

"Oh I know I said that I would always make it sunny for him whenever he was around but had I known _sooner_ I might have made it rain in the past few days so it wouldn't _need _to rain the days he was here!" she exclaimed cheerfully though emphasizing the words in irritation.

Honestly Souji would have called, if only Igor or Margaret would give her a cell phone. Though Margaret had called him in the past. How did she even get his number...?

It was... Late to be thinking about that. He turned as Dojima place small appetizers of food in front of them. However, after such a large lunch, it was hard to stomach much more of though quickly swallowed down her food, urging scoldings from Dojima telling her to slow down. Oh but this didn't deter little Nanako, by this point Souji was watching her intently, chopstick still in his mouth, to see if she was going to accidentally start choking. But no, Nanako pulled through with no incidents and stood, quickly excusing herself and hurrying away, her feet pattering on the wooden floor.

Souji watched her bustling back and forth, at one time with paper in her hands, and looked to Dojima who took a sip of his coffee with a knowing smile.

Before the idea even clicked in Souji's head, Nanako hurried toward him, ushering him up from sitting and hastily pulling him into her room.

Oh.

Oh there was a piano in there now, nothing like a grand piano, no, it was a rather small piano, the size of a dresser maybe and Nanako eagerly had him sit on her bed while she fidgeted nervously in front of him. Her tiny hands balled up into fists in her dress and she swayed before giving a cute curtsy.

"Uhm... I'm going to play you a song now. Don't laugh or anything ok?" she smiled before sitting on the piano bench and glancing at her sheet music.

Souji was silent as Nanako took a few shaky breaths, finger outstretched, and yet hesitant. She gave a shuddering breath before finally bringing her fingers down on the keys. three repetitive notes and then into a trickle of chimes as her fingers danced over the keys in a smooth fluid closed his eyes and listened, it was beautiful, just gorgeous. If there was any way to to describe it, it sounded like a clear midnight with a bright shining full moon.

It was simply amazing how Nanko was capable of being able to hit all those notes which flitted so close to each other with only one hand while the older held the background notes.

Just as Souji could have fallen into a peaceful sleep, Nanako ended the song with a fading chime and a final exhale. She slowly turned herself around shuddering and clenching her fists tightly,

" H-how was that?" she asked nervously avoiding eye contact.

Souji was silent, never had he seen Nanako this nervous before, well she had nothing to worry about. With a calm smile Souji began clapping enthusiastically, "That was wonderful Nanako, you were terrific!" he placed his hands down as Nanako smiled and covered her face in embarrassment.

"I'm serious, that was fantastic." he assured her standing up to go pet her head and finding his left leg had fallen quite asleep.

With a modest smile Nanako stood and brushed her dress off out of habit,

"You really liked it?" she smiled up at him.

Those big brown eyes leaving an almost physically painful throb in his chest. Souji only found himself nodding stupidly. This seemed to be enough to make her happy as she hurried and hugged him, her head no longer at his stomach but more at his chest. Souji made a note about how much taller she was.

Dojima stood at the doorway silently, he had been listening as well and smiled softly. Before the hug lingered for too long he cleared his throat and stepped inside the room,

"Alright Nanako, you still have a bedtime you know. And I'm sure Souji's tired from today." he called out in a stern voice.

Nanako let go with a giggle and nodded, "Ok," she looked up to Souji, "Good night." and with that Souji and Dojima left the room silently for Nanako to head to bed.

"She really is great." Souji repeated softly running his finger through his hair.

Dojima nodded, "Yeah, she's something. Gets more and more like her mother." he sighed with a faraway look.

Souji suddenly went silent, "That case... Was it solved?" he asked softly hands to his sides stiffly.

Dojima gave him tired look, "Actually, yeah. I thought I'd feel better putting that hit and run killer behind bars but..I dunno, I think it just made me more worried for some reason." he muttered looking Souji in the eyes.

"It's getting late, you should go to bed. I'm sure you have a long day ahead of you with your friends he smiled walking over and giving Souji a firm push in the direction of his room.

Stumbling slightly Souji glanced back at Dojima who dropped himself onto the couch with a deflated huff and closed his eyes. Without a question, he turned and took one step after another to his room which was empty once more. However, Dojima was kind enough to set aside his bag and the same furniture he had last year. Aside from some slight unpacking, this room would soon look just as it had before, with the same familiar and comforting atmosphere. But Dojima was right, he was tired, he would get no packing done tonight. But for now, he unzipped his bag and pulled out the photos from last year. Of he and his friends and of all their a smile he placed them on his dresser by the small TV and already the room felt warmer. He unfolded his futon and quickly flickered off the lights. He felt his way to his futon and snuggled himself in. He quickly fell into a quick, deep, dreamless sleep


	2. Quite the Dilema

.-Summer Day 1-

Souji was quite abruptly awoken by his cellphone shrilly beeping right in his ear. With an unpleasant jolt and an irritated scowl, Souji blindly felt around for the source of the noise. Unable to find the bother of an electronic device, he somehow forced his upper body of the cushiony feel of his futon and blinked drearily in the dimly lit room. Taking a moment to compose himself and adjust to the sudden wake-up, Souji took a deep breath and almost fell asleep sitting upright. Shaking his head, he pushed himself from the floor and shifted carefully among boxes to the desk where his phone had ceased it's infernal beeping.

Flipping it open it showed that Yosuke had just called him. It was 10:11; it felt much earlier. Souji pressed on the redial button and in no less than two rings, Yosuke picked up,his chipper voice something of a morning pick-up. "Yo, dude, we're all here at Junes, you wanna meet up?" his electronic voice resonated. Souji nodded sleepily before realizing stupidly that Yosuke could not have seen that. "Yeah.. I'll be there soon, partner." he yawned and scratching his head absentmindedly.

He heard Yosuke relay his reply to the others on the other side and he swore he could hear a yelp of happiness from Teddie. Soon, Yosuke's voice returned with a bit of muffled static,

"Ok then, we'll see you soon buddy."

Souji could almost hear the smile he must have been giving off and found himself smiling stupidly as well. He heard a click and flipped his phone shut now that the conversation was over. After a brief second, he forced himself up, blowing a puff up air up at his bangs and slowly pulling the curtains open to let in a flood of sunlight. However, just as Marie had predicted, there were looming storm clouds on the horizon. Thinking of rain, it would probably be best to wash his face to wake himself from his groggy sleep stupor.

After a relaxing shower, the minty toothpaste waking him up even more, and a light snack, Souji bid farewell to both Nanako and Dojima before hurrying out the door. Despite it being summer, the oncoming rain clouds brought with them a pleasant breeze, making the day bearable to walk to Junes. It would give him a chance to see all of Inaba again. Swinging his jacket over his shoulder (much like his uncle) Souji breathed in the tasteful country air and set off for Junes.

By the time he finally did arrive, it seemed everyone had gotten quite settled at their usual spot and laughing over a couple of sodas. Chie happened to notice him first and waved a hand in the air, "Hey, Souji, over here!" she called earning an eye roll from Yosuke, "He's not blind you know." he crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.

Chie stuck her tongue out to which Yosuke promptly did the same. Souji smiled and took a seat, his usual spot which they were all conscious on leaving open. The seating arrangements were familiar.

"So, you seemed to wake up late, that's unusual for you." Yosuke smirked playing with the cords of his headphones.

After sipping from her tea, Naoto was the one to explain to Yosuke on Souji's behalf, "Well he didn't get any chance for rest yesterday after the ride here, and we did do a lot yesterday. It only makes sense that Senpai would be tired enough to sleep in."

"So did you sleep ok then?" Yukiko asked, today her hair was down from the usual professional bun.

It was shorter than during their midnight escapades, but it was still fairly long.

Souji nodded with a small smile, "Yeah I did. I guess being back in Inaba just makes it all the more comfortable to me. Everything just felt so.. Homey and familiar."

Everyone nodded in understanding. Rise giggled pushing her sunglasses up coyly and she sipped her soda,

"Well, it's great to have you back Senpai, we really missed you." her smile was genuine, not her actress smile. It was difficult to not smile back.

After a moment of agreement, suddenly the whole group exploded again in discussion, first Yosuke being upset that Teddie nearly spilt his drink on him, causing him to jolt in surprise and bump into Chie who promptly kicked his shin roughly which ripped a yelp from the poor boy's throat. That's what started Yukiko's famous laughing fits, her body convulsing with uncontrolled laughter. Kanji and Naoto were having their own side conversation on some topic. And Rise occupied Souji by telling him about her recent television premieres and acting jobs. It was true, Souji had seen her a lot on television lately, several times had she even made a discreet shout out to him on several occasions which luckily his parents didn't understand.

Speaking of television, "Everything here is alright, right? No midnight channel, or fog, or anything?" he asked unsurely. "Everything here has been really quiet and peaceful after all that fighting."

Teddie answered cheerfully "And the other side?" "Hrmmmm, there are still shadows, but definitely not as many as there used to be once the fog was lifted. But, there are some places with a light fog."

Hearing this was a little disheartening.

"Well, it is impossible to be able to erase the fog from every heart of every person in the world. I'm sure some people still have their doubts, denial, and other such negative emotions. If we were to truly lift the fog in everyone's heart and eliminate all the shadows, then the world would be a paradise now. But it's impossible for us to do such a thing. Don't you think?" Naoto explained.

Yosuke frowned, "Well when you say it like that, you make it sound like we did all of that for nothing."

Naoto immediately apologized and continued to sip her drink absent mindedly. They both had points to make, but even if it was something they didn't want to hear, it was something that needed to be said. Naoto had a habit of doing that, and Souji was grateful she was usually so straightforward when it came to facts.

"Well why don't we go inside the TV for old times sake? You know, pound a few shadows, go adventuring like we used to, maybe clear up some of that leftover fog?" Kanji suggested uncertainly, "It might be fun?"

The team looked to each other, the uneasiness evidently showing on their faces. They really didn't want to be reminded of their shadows and the humiliation they had gone through to accept them. They didn't want to see the twisted worlds born of their minds. But...

Were they even there anymore?

"It doesn't have to be where you guys are thinking." Souji spoke up in the idea's defense, "Perhaps we can explore new areas, or we could just go to the paradise."

Paradise was their name for the place they had discovered after the battle with Izanami, the rolling hills and trickling waters, that soft breeze, the green grass, blue skies. It was a dangerous place, dangerous in that after only five minutes, none of them wanted to leave. This idea seemed to appeal more to everyone than the idea of fighting shadows.

Even Kanji seemed to like this better than his idea. "Can we do that Teddie?"

"Of course, if I can go to and from, you all should still be able to."

Looking at the sparkle in everyone's eyes, it seemed that was the plan, and honestly, Souji didn't mind it either. However, just because Izanami had fallen, it didn't mean it was safe, after all, Teddie did say there were still shadows here and there. So per usual they all had the strange custom of hiding their weapons under their uniforms. A few kunai, ok, a fan, sure, a pistol, of course, shoes, hell those didn't need concealing, and a few claws, maybe. But for he and Kanji, swords and school desks, really? How they even managed this every time seemed to defy the laws of the universe.

And yet they did it, made it past security as inconspicuously as humanly possible and they made a mad dash for the tv, weapons in hand. It was a relief when they made it to the other side the yellow crime scene flooring also bringing mostly unpleasant memories for all. But today, everyone seemed more relaxed here in this environment than they ever had before. It must have been a good sign. There was no heavy atmosphere, it was a weight of Souji's shoulders.

"Alright bear, which way to paradise~?" Chie eagerly twist her torso in an exercise motion.

Teddie's first response: "Baby I can show you paradise." Teddie's second response after seeing the horrendously fiery glare: "I-I mean, this way! P-Paradise was this way!"

"That's what I thought.

Now with the fog gone, Teddie seemed to get a much better hang of his nose, while his scanning ability was nowhere near as accurate as Rise's, he insisted on helping in his world. (A host must do his best to cater to his guests. ) So the old rag-tag team found itself in idle chatter once more, this time Souji hearing from Yukiko how the Inn was doing and how she could have ever thought managing it was hard. But she did have the wonderful staff to thank as well.

The trip there was quiet, in the sense that no shadows appeared to attack,it was a nice change of pace to go to the tv world and not fight. Sure enough, Teddie's nose led them straight to Paradise and all at once everyone felt so at ease and peaceful. Chie offered to push Yukiko on the flower covered wooden swing hanging beneath the giant mother tree. Kanji showed Naoto and Teddie how to weave crowns with flowers, (Teddie did want to bring back a lovely gift for Nanako). Finally Yosuke and Souji sat back to back, sharing Yosuke's headphones while Rise calmly rest her head on Souji's lap. It was platonic when Souji absentmindedly ran his fingers through her hair occasionally, but she gave no sign of disapproval.

This is how the TV world should have been before all this started. Perhaps this was the paradise Namatame was thinking the TV world was when he threw them all in. Whether it was or not,Souji leaned his head back against Yosuke's and let his mind drift off to the song Yosuke was playing.

_**That brightly shining moment, I was with everyone**_

_**I spent that time without knowing it was irreplaceable**_

_**Now, so that I'll just recall it fondly, I will embrace the feeling**_

_**You were definitely by my side back then, you know**_

_**You were always, always, always smiling right next to me**_

_**Even if I lose you, I'll get you back. I will never leave you.**_

- o O o-

Before long, it was decided that they should be going soon, before they felt that bliss overcome them and make them never want to leave again. This was decided after a poorly timed and placed running hug from Teddie resulted in both he and Kanji in the water and Kanji looked ready to blow a fuse. So here they were, Souji comforting a soaking Kanji who looked fairly reminiscent to a very wet and grumpy looking cat. Rise was the first to call the alarm, a shadow had wandered into their path and seeing them, surged forward in instinctual rage. Minotaurs, each of them different; the clanking of their chains as they shook their horned heads vigorously was loud as ever. It was nothing they hadn't handled before.

Rise began her analyzation, and gave her results to Yosuke, who was the quickest to respond, "Yosuke do your windy thing, it's weak to wind!" she exclaimed eagerly. And a familiar spark was lit as everyone pulled out their weapons, Yosuke looking even more energetic as he twirled his kunai before summoning Takehaya Susano-o by giving a swift strike with the small knives, shattering the card holding his persona in. Takehaya Susano-o appeared from Yosuke and as the third minotaur charged and with a burst of slicing wind, it was knocked to the ground like a rag doll.

Rise cheered for an encore as Yosuke went for the more direct approach this time, knives in hand as he dashed for the same minotaur in an attempt to finish it off. It was close, but the Minotaur still prevailed though badly wounded and slow. "Stand back and let me show you how it's done." taunted Chie as she rolled her neck and jogging in place. On the third hop she dashed for the fading shadow and placed a well aimed kick to it's torso and with a wail of defeat, the shadow dispersed and faded away.

Chie rolled her head to Yosuke with a triumphant smirk to which Yosuke rolled his eyes. Enraged for their fallen minotaur, the two others gave a low bellow of rage before charging in separate directions. Kanji successfully pulled Naoto's tiny frame from harm's way however Yukiko did not seem fast enough to dodge the second minotaur and was knocked back a few feet. Chie cried out and left to assist her up. "How dare you hurt precious Yuki-chan! Rrrawr that is just unforgivable!" Teddie cried whilst hopping onto the back of the minotaur who tackled Yukiko, digging those razor hooked claws into it's tough hide.

Naoto quickly whipped out her pistol and fired several rounds at the minotaur who missed her. "Nice shot Naoto, now it's my turn." Kanji growled happily as he fearlessly charged up to meet the minotaur head on and while physical attacks didn't have much effect, Kanji did manage to knock it back a few steps from charging again head-on.

"Yukiko, quick, that one is weak to fire, light it up!" Rise Smiled just as Chie pulled Yukiko up.

"Got it, come Sume-Okami!" she cried out, her persona card appearing and with a flick of the wrist, her silk fan tore through it like paper and Sume-Okami was released with a quick burst of ablaze the minotaur writhed in pain nearly bashing into Kanji before dissipating into nothingness in defeat.

"Yo Yukiko-senpai careful would you, that was way too close for comfort!" Kanji cried, wiping the smell and smoke of burning shadow from his eyes.

"Oops, sorry Kanji-kun." she waved apologetically with a sheepish blush.

Teddie on the other hand was experiencing what it was like to be tossed and spun around on a mechanical bull first hand, "S-s-senseiii, help please waaaaah!" he stuttered as loud as he could as the last minotaur shook itself violently in an attempt to dislodge Teddie from it's back.

For a moment it charged blindly before stopping abruptly, the momentum enough to keep Teddie flying, landing just in front of the minotaur right on his back. It was at the time, Souji rushed up to his aid, putting himself between the shadow and Teddie. The minotaur leered down at him with a quick grunt and stamped it's hooves before rearing up and angling it's head so that it's horns would have pierced both Teddie and Souji.

"Senpai, quick it's weak to lightning hurry!" cried Rise in fear.

Lighting? No problem. Reaching deep within himself he called upon Izanagi to protect them and while he felt the same draining effect it had on his body when summoning a persona,the card never appeared.

He had no chance to try again, the minotaur's horns already upon them.

"Takeji Zaiten!"

A bolt of lightning came down upon the minotaur, much too close to Teddie and Souji. They both recoiled and faced away from the momentary blinding light before the minotaur was downed and Souji could hear the others performing an all out attack right by them.

Souji pried his eyes open, his vision blurry, and was met by the large blue eyes of Teddie staring at him in silent concern. He silently looked to the ground and slowly turned to meet the same look on his team's faces. The silence permeated the air as Souji wondered just why Izanagi wouldn't come, and it seemed to dawn on the others that he wasn't able to summon him. No one had the courage to speak and the atmosphere seemed thick with not fog, but tension.

Thank god Rise broke the ice, "You must still be tired, that's all senpai."

It was a lie when Souji nodded and looked at his own two feet. That was the first time he had never been able to summon Izanagi, and not just him, but he felt like he didn't have it in him to summon any other persona, not Pyro Jack, nor Rakshasa, or Lilith. He still felt them there, somewhere, but now, he felt like they were just air. He looked at his team with his trademark calm face and pretended like it simply didn't happen. When he gave the order to go home, no one pressed any further.

The walk back until they were back at Junes was agonizingly silent.

No one blamed Souji when he suddenly said he wasn't feeling well and left as soon as they all reached the food court. He left briskly without a goodbye. Now Souji prided himself on being able to stay calm in many situations, however it would be an understatement if this sharp turn of events didn't unsettle him. It's not like he really had any use of his personas now that the battle with Izanami was over and done with, it would have made sense if they disappeared after fulfilling their purpose, but that wouldn't be able to account for why the others could summon their persona just fine.

Now it had developed into a habit over the year, but Souji had always kept the velvet key on his person. He thoughtlessly ran a finger over it in his pocket. It hadn't disappeared after their final battle so then he still had access to the velvet room ahead, Souji decided it best to go see Igor and Margaret, if anyone knew anything about personas, it was them.

- o O o-

Marie's feet pounded on the ground as she ran down to Junes. Oh she was going to surprise Souji so bad, and if he was anywhere, it was Junes. At least she hoped he would be there. Pushing her glasses from her face, she rounded the corner and made her way into the air conditioned Junes. With a soft tired huff, she shook her head and hurried to the elevators leading to the food court. Fixing her hair, shirt, and glasses, she tried to keep an aloof air about her as usual as she made her way into the food court and wasn't surprised to see Yosuke and the others gathered at their usual spot. What did surprise her was that Souji wasn't there with them.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

"Oh Marie-chan, hi!" Yukio exclaimed in genuine surprise. Everyone's faces lifted a bit.

The tense atmosphere didn't go unnoticed. Scanning everyone's faces, Marie bit her lip. "What's up, where's Souji?"

Faces fell.

"He said he wasn't feeling too swell, so he left for home." Answered Yosuke with a huff.

Odd, so even the rock solid Souji Seta got sick every once in a blue moon. Marie was content to leave it at that, she had no reason to doubt Souji's (and her) friends, that is until Naoto gave Yosuke some kind of reprimanding glance.

"Marie, you know a lot about... Everything, yes?"

A very sudden question.

"Yes, why?"

Hesitation.

"Is it possible, for someone to be unable to summon their persona for any reason?"

A very sudden and odd question.

"Well, Personas do not manifest in the human world, and cannot be summoned if the bearer is spiritually drained."

Rise bit her lip in thought, "But senpai was in perfect health..."

Was Souji unable to summon his persona?!

"Wait,are you saying you were in the TV again? Why?!" Marie exclaimed angrily stomping her foot.

"W-we just thought it'd be good fun, like old times. Besides we're tough enough to handle anything that comes our way." Kanji spoke up in the team's defense.

Ok, just calm down, they had good intentions. It's not like anyone was seriously harmed, but this was a dilemma, just what happened so where Souji couldn't summon his persona? He had the wildcard, he had all the personas in the void at his disposal, so why did they ignore his call?

"This..." Marie tapped her lips thoughtfully, "Is quite a problem. And I know just who to see about it." she finally snapped her fingers.

No doubt Souji already had the same idea, he was a smart fellow, he could figure this much out with ease. So with a quick goodbye and a swift turnaround, Marie hurried to her once thought home: The Velvet Room.

Running there at full speed took her maybe 15 minutes, and unlike Souji, Marie had no need for a key and so she didn't pause to stop and rummage in her pockets, she simply burst in. All hues of blue assaulted her eyes and already she felt sick from the days when that's all she ever saw.

Blue

Blue

Blue.

It was so tiring.

Igor greeted her with a wide Cheshire grin, resting his nose just above his folded hands. "Well now, aren't we getting quite a few guests today."

So Souji did come here.

"Ok, so spill it Nose, what's going on, I thought a Persona bent to the will of it's master, why did it not answer it's call?" Marie scowled.

Margaret who was silent up until now raised a delicate hand.

"The previous guest, Souji Seta has already seen us in order to set this problem straight. We told him only what he needed to know is all."

"And that would be?"

"He simply needs to trust in his friends, those whom he has formed the unbreakable bond with. They shall be the key to his survival in a plot of his own unraveling." Igor finished with a delighted smile that seemed to hold no remorse for Souji, nor did it imply that this was going to end well.

"Unraveling? But, wait, then... But what if he gets killed?" Marie suddenly cried, furious that Igor had not shared this information earlier.

"Then it would prove what kind of character he has become. If his friends are true and just, then he will remain unscathed as they will do all in their power to save him without fail." Igor waved a finger in the air, "But, should the bonds prove untrue, then it will means his friends care not for him. A friend with false bonds carries no loyalty."

Well that was stupid,of course his friends would save him, they were a team, and they looked out for one another. Marie knew (dare she say it) that they were family and they all loved him as did he love all of them in return.

Unless...

"Come." Igor pat the seat beside him, it was where Marie usually sat when she was still bound to this place, "Let us watch and see if our guest can still prove himself worthy of his gifts."

Hesitant, enraged, anxious, frantic, and worried-sick, Marie eventually took her old seat beside Igor and firmly dug her fingers into the fabric of her shirt, biting her lips furiously. With a swipe of his hand Souji was put on display as light above the table, and soon the image of Souji transitioned into that of the team members still loitering at Junes.

No one was going to like this.


	3. And so it Begins

-Summer Day 2-

Today it was Yukiko who decided to indulge and sleep in just a little. Last night a large party of guests decided to check themselves in for a celebration and so Yukiko was pulled away from her friends early. She was having a wonderful dream, one filled with the scent of flowers thanks to her persona Sume-Okami. Ever since first receiving her persona, she found that her dreams were that much sweeter. Such a beautiful garden, oh and in the center, sitting nonchalantly but grinning pleasantly was-

_**Though the flower petals are scattering,**_

_**they added colour to the town.**_

_**The final time was here,**_

_**the wind kindly told.**_

Yukiko gave an uncharacteristic groan as she rolled over and pulled the sheets over her head.

After several moments of Reset, the tired girl gave up and lift her head from her pillow, her hair unusually messy and unruly. Rolling her eyes in rage she reached for her cell phone and flipped it open seeing it was Chie, and took the call. "Hello? Chie?" she yawned and rubbed her eyes but was quickly interrupted.

"Yukiko, Yukiko is Souji there?!"

Chie sounded desperate and Yukiko immediately straightened.

"Uhm, I can go check." was her unsure response.

Covering the receiver end of the phone, Yukiko didn't bother changing her clothes just yet. She hurried down to the lobby, unprofessionally in her sleepwear.

"I'm sorry, but did Seta Souji check in yesterday or this morning at any time?"

A few pages in a book were flipped, "I'm sorry ma'am, no one by that name has checked in recently."

Yukiko raised the phone to her lips, "No, no he's not, why?"

Chie's frustrated groan sounded on the verge of tears. "Dojima called earlier this morning, he said Souji never came home last night!"

This came as a shock, Souji was always home before dark, but.. He did have a bad habit of sneaking out at times when Dojima wasn't around. But despite that, Souji always came home, he wouldn't just leave Nanako by herself for a prolonged amount of time. It was hard to believe, but Chie wasn't one to joke about these things at all.

"We're looking through all of Inaba and even Marie is missing, we even have Kanji at the beach and Yosuke searching Okina right now."

"Alright, I'll be there soon."

Yukiko quickly shut her phone and rushed up the stairs to change. In her haste it wasn't a fancy outfit, but it was perfectly acceptable as she hurried back out yelling at the receptionist on the way out to keep things in check. After riding the bus to the central shopping district, it wasn't long before she ran into Chie asking pedestrians if they had seen someone of Souji's description. Upon meeting eyes, they rushed to each other's side, Chie looking distraught and frantic.

"Yukiko, Yukiko we-we haven't found him, no one has seen him and-and oh god what are we going to do-?!"

Yukiko quickly pulled Chie into a tight hug, she knew that Chie was a tough but sensitive person. When Yukiko had gone missing she had reacted the same way. She really was a loyal and caring person.

Softly stroking her hair Chie quickly calmed and became more coherent, "Yukiko, I did it again. I blurted out something stupid and random and everyone took it seriously. I thought that maybe after yesterday he had gone back into the TV to try and fix the problem. And now Rise and Teddie are investigating there. What if he really did go, why would he go by himself?"

When put with what happened yesterday, Chie's assumption made sense, as to why Souji went alone they'd never know. From the moment he first came to Inaba, he was hard to read, quiet, aloof, he seemed so distant from them. But he proved brave, loyal, understanding, smart, and hard working. He was a wonderful person. So there are several reasons he might have gone alone really.

"Maybe he didn't want us getting hurt..." "

HURT?!" Chie suddenly recoiled in anger, "We're hurting right now Yukiko, oh my god I'm am worried SICK over that ass and all because he thinks he's PROTECTING US? I'm going to have an ulcer, or gray hairs, this anxiety is shaving YEARS OFF MY LIFESPAN YUKIKO!" she screeched, attracting the attention of curious bystanders.

Yukiko flustered, quickly pulled Chie into another calming embrace with soft tender hushes and pats on the head. A moment of silence and saying nothing, Chie pulled back, wiping a single tear from a despondent pouty face.

"Ok.. ok... I'm good now." deep breath, exhale, "I'm good."

"Glad to hear that." Yukiko smiled softly, "Now that we're calm, we'll continue the search, ok?"

Chie huffed angrily as Yukiko gently took her hand and led her down the streets looking like a mother and a child who had just finished their temper tantrum. Now now Chie, everything was going to be alright, it was, it had to be. It always was.

- o O o-

By late afternoon, there was a small search party going around Inaba comprised of the investigation team, the Inaba police department, and even some of Souji's other friends from school. Kou and Daisuke were determined and persistent and dare anyone who refused Ai Ebihara in any way. And yet despite all their efforts, there was no sign of their silver-haired leader.

"No one has seen Souji anywhere since yesterday." Yosuke sighs dejectedly and furrows his brow in frustration. "

I also don't sense him in the TV world." Rise murmured with Teddie giving a nod of agreement. "And I called the station, no one has seen Marie on the set either." she added.

"Where could they have gone?" a question from Kanji.

"Senpai is not the one to up and leave without telling anyone, or at least without giving a hint." an obvious statement made by Naoto which was not entirely true.

Yosuke knew. He knew once Souji had gone in by himself without telling a soul to confront that bastard Adachi. He didn't know what happened, nor what words were exchanged by them. But Souji was bitter that day, a scowl on his face that was uncharacteristic of him. But that didn't matter. Souji had left without telling them, alone, even after he promised that they would go in together. And still Yosuke kept this a secret.

"You don't think he was kidnapped or anything do you?" Chie bit at her fingers nervously.

"I don't think so, Senpai is a tough as nails dude. He could take on anyone." Kanji crossed his arms with defiance.

"Senpai is undoubtedly strong. But as we know from our many battles with him, he is not without his weaknesses. He isn't Superman." Naoto pointed out, running her fingers through her hair, her brain probably unscrambling every possible scenario to see which one made more sense.

"It's... Going to rain tonight." Yukiko pointed out, "You think... Possibly?"

It was preposterous. Izanami herself said as her last words that she would stop interfering with the human world. And that meant stopping both the unnatural fog and the Midnight Channel. Besides, Souji had never been on TV before, no one outside of Inaba and possibly Tokyo knew of him enough to be curious about him. And not to mention he was never-

Wait a moment.

In a sense he had.

But it would be the same case as with Nanako, never directly shown or mentioned on the television, and yet implied. Naoto came to this theory fast. And her head turned to Rise.

"Rise, we all know that during your performances on TV you've given a shoutout to senapi on more than one occasion. You never stated his name, nor given any hints to his identity. Only that he was the one who inspired you." Naoto pointed a finger.

In addition to this it didn't help that Rise also referred to him as the boy she was head over heels for once or twice. That would certainly get some people curious as to the identity of this boy and everything about him. Rise frowned and bit her lip in distress.

"Well I thought this whole TV nonsense was done with. If I knew mentioning senpai would lead to him getting- wait are you implying that he will show up on the midnight channel?"

"It... Seems unlikely yes. But it is a requirement that has been fulfilled."

"But it rained last night and nothing showed up on the TV at all." Chie rebutted with a confused frown.

"But let's face it, did any of us even stay up that late to check?" Naoto shot back.

"True," Yukiko absentmindedly played with a lock of hair, "It's not like any of us were expecting it, so none of us would have stayed up to watch. We thought it was all over."

"But I still didn't sense anything on the other side, I checked this morning. Senpai went missing last night!" Rise frowned,for some reason Naoto's facts made her feel as though this was all her fault somehow.

And so Naoto had nothing to say to that. She couldn't doubt Rise's analytical ability, she was the best one of the group. And so the group fell into silence once more, back to square one. It was almost humiliating for them how they had solved a whole murder case together, but when one of their own go missing (specifically their leader) they're powerless to deduce anything.

"I want to go see Nana-chan." Teddie spoke up.

Of course. Nanako would be heartbroken over this. Soui was her 'big bro' after all. Despite being mature for her age, she was still only seven and to loose one as close as Souji would be devastating. Perhaps it would be nice to pay her a visit, to cheer her up. However it might also be stressful for Dojima if they were all suddenly crowded into his house. It was decided that only Teddie would go. He had a much closer relationship with Nanako than any other of the investigation team members and she saw him as a close friend. They all passed on their messages to Nanako through Teddie and he hurried off anxiously.

"So what do we do? We've hit a wall." Yosuke groaned in irritation.

Naoto sighed, "Perhaps the best thing to do is do what we've always done when we've hit a blockade: We wait."

It pained everyone to do so, but it was the only reasonable option before them. Perhaps time would bring with it a new clue, a new kind of viewpoint and then Souji would be found safe and sound. And then, everything would be ok and they would laugh like nothing ever happened.

- o O o-

_"I still don't like this. I swear if even one of them gets hurt-!"_

_"Oh but it's quite impossible for them to go through such a trial unharmed don't you think?"_

_"I don't care! You call it a trial and yet here we are watching them like this is some god damned movie of the year!"_

_"Please calm yourself, this is no different than the trial he went through a year ago. We were observing then too."_

_"That doesn't make it any more right! Here we sit knowing everything that is going to happen and we're watching them stumble on like mice."_

_"As I've said before, if his bonds prove true, they will all pull through unscathed. Well, for the most part anyways."_

_"Yeah I heard you the first time."_

_"But, should they prove false, we can rest assured that not only will our guest perish, but he won't be the only one severely harmed._

_"..."_

_"Oh would you look, we're coming to a pivotal part in our story, let's watch shall we?"_

_"... I'm beginning to think you two are cruel sadists in some way."_

- o O o-

They had all said their goodbyes, gave each other positive reinforcement, and assured one another that everything would be just fine. And yet in the pit of Yosuke's stomach, he knew it wouldn't go as smoothly as they all hoped. He as Souji's partner knew him better than anyone, and for him to disappear like this didn't bode well. Oh and once his parents caught wind of this, being at home made it all the more unbearable. Yosuke's mother tried to console her totally distraught (sarcasm) son, patting his head and treating him like he was five all over again. He was not devastated, he was worried yeah, but having his parents senselessly fawn over him due to a loss of a friend was both ridiculous and annoying. Both were just highly exaggerating things.

How relieved he was to get away from them was probably borderline rude and once he made his way to his room, all he was planning to do was go to bed and sleep secretly hoping that he could sleep it all away. God today had been so stressful. For sure where Souji was, when he found him, Yosuke would be sure to punch him, it was only right considering he worried everyone to death (And Chie to tears).

Hell if all of Inaba didn't know that Souji Seta was missing by now, almost everyone was on the lookout for him, and if no one's seen him in such a small town then...

Could Naoto be right?

It was impossible of course. They had resolved all of this long ago and that was that. And yet at the clock ticked on noisily Yosuke found himself slouched down at his desk and intently watching the TV. Aside from the faint voices of his parents, the patter of rain hit the window. The clock ticked. Now to wait until midnight. Time slowed on agonizingly until-

_Ten_

_Nine_

_Eight_

Eyes watched the screen intently

_Seven_

_Six_

_Five_

Suddenly static

_Four_

_Three_

_Two_

_One_

"_**Hello and welcome one and all!"**_

"No. Fucking. Way.."


	4. The Circus is in Town

-Summer Day 3-

"Please tell me you all saw that last night right?" Yosuke choked out.

Once more they had gathered at Junes the atmosphere heavy and everyone looking bewildered.

"There's no way that was senpai, just no way in hell!" Kanji roared in defiance before Naoto touched his shoulder gently.

"I find it hard to believe too, but from what we know, that is his shadow, those were his true feelings." her eyes darted to the floor.

"I only saw the end, I was helping around the inn before I came to my room to find it at its end." Yukiko frowned.

Chie flipped her hair angrily, "Well I didn't see anything! I was too beat to stay up until midnight so I missed everything!" she cried out, Teddie nodding beside her.

"I stayed up until Nana-chan fell asleep, which was really early before her dad sent me away..."

After Naoto's deduction yesterday, it seems Yosuke wasn't the only one who stayed up to see if their TV would play the Midnight Channel again. Rise out of planted guilt, Naoto to confirm her deductions, and Kanji simply because he happened to be with Naoto at the moment as a witness to her deductive theory. But they saw it,they saw him, the _real_ him and it was shocking to say the least.

- o O o-

"_**Welcome one and all!"**_

"_**Hello and welcome to the Midnight Channel, yes we've been off air for quite some time now but I'm happy to inform you we're back and with better programs than ever before!"**_  
_Souji was on the screen, the background dark but a spotlight shone on him brightly. Now of course Souji was unafraid of anything but the outfit he was wearing was less than dashing. It was reminiscent of a prince in a way with a violet (velvet from the looks of it) coat with frilled cuffs cutting into the fabric of the sleeve. A pristine white ascot was tucked into a cream colored ornate vest. His pants were silly bright yellow and poofy which ended just at the knees and white stockings were covered by curled yellow shoes. Despite the princely look, a large floppy jester hat rests on his head with oversized bells jingling with every movement. He looks ridiculous and yet it looks as if no one but Souji would even be able to remotely pull that off._

"_**Today's program is the first of many, but for now allow me to introduce-"**_

_Souji sidestepped with a hop and a big flashy title appeared._

"_**Jester's Mesmerizing Tales! Tomorrow's tale preview: A wonderful tale of friendship and going on an exciting and fun adventure. Will good triumph in the end, will the power of friendship pull through? You'll have to see for yourself in tomorrow's super fun showing. See you then!"**_

And that was when the program was lost in the static that was the TV before eventually the screen faded to black and left those who witnessed it shocked beyond belief. None of them saw it coming, Souji was always an open book. Or so they thought.

"So does this mean he's in there now?" Chie asked worriedly after a quick explanation.

Rise looked down at her hands on her lap, "It seems so. I'll go check." and with that she stood and walked away, the gloom on her face apparent.

Teddie quickly looked back at Rise and then the group, his big blue eyes showing concern, "I'm going with her!" he quickly stood nearly toppling his chair and hurried after her, his steps fading away.

Naoto frowned as she watched them go feeling a slight guilt, she felt as though she had placed the blame on Rise but she didn't really mean to, she was just stating the facts as usual.

"What bothers me," she said finally turning back to face the group, "Is what he said: This program is just one of many."

"So that means there'll be even more? Does that mean the Midnight Channel has begun again?" Yosuke bit his lip in thought.

"It's a possibility." Yukiko's gaze fell on the drink she had bought and yet she had not touched it.

"Man that sucks. I thought we were done with all that bullcrap!" Chie cried angrily her open palm hitting the table.

"Yeah, same here, something must be going on for this to be starting up again." Kanji gave an input.

"Well you know what this means guys." Chie kicked back in her seat looking rather smug as everyone's eyes were on her, "We just gotta go in, weapons blazing and rescue our buddy before anything happens." she waggled a finger in the air confidently.

"But Chie, this is so sudden, and it's Souji's shadow, we don't know how strong it could be. If we just charged in we might be hilariously disadvantaged." Said a worried Yukiko.  
Naoto nodded in agreement, "She's right Chie-senpai, we need to take some time to prepare before we charge in."

"I'll stay here for when Rise and Teddie get back, you guys can go into the shopping central for a while and get ready before we go or anything." Yukiko offered with a hopeful smile.

The rest glanced at each other and to Yukiko who nodded in confirmation.

"Alright," Yosuke stood with a huff, "Chie, you and I got to your little Swords R Us, and Naoto and Kanji you both go to Shiroku's general to go buy medications and all that fancy jazz." he waved his hand.

Chie rolled her eyes with a groan but stood as well with Naoto and Kanji who nodded.

"Alright then, let's go!" Chie pointed onward however leaned down to whisper in Yukiko's ear, "We'll be right back ok?"

Yukiko gave a soft giggle, "Alright, I'll be waiting."

And with that they set off to prepare for whatever could be waiting for them.

- o O o-

In the TV world, Rise was filled with dread. As she feared, Kouzeon scanned the TV world searching for any traces of an energy spike she could muster. However, she didn't need to search long, only slightly south-east from her was a clear energy spike, nothing too strong, but it was strong enough to be easily identifiable. It was definitely Souji. It was even worse when Teddie could smell it.

"Sensei is definitely here. But I'm beary worried, if this were sensei you'd think his traces would be hard to find, but here it is as clear as the nose on my fuzzy face." he bopped himself on the nose.

"I just don't get it Teddie, something feels so wrong here but I can't decide what it is. Is it that Senpai is gone, that he has a shadow, what would he not tell us?" Rise bit his lips and fiddled with her fingers nervously her eyes darting around the familiar TV, "It feels so wrong."

Teddie was silent for a moment before waddling over to her and giving her back a nice pat, "Don't worry Rise-chan, I'm sure we'll figure this all out and we'll win like we always do and everything will be fine again!" he chimed with a soft reassuring hum.

Rise was still confused, but it would be wrong to say that it didn't cheer her up in the least, "Thanks Teddie, you're right. We'll just figure this out like always. Hehe, and when senpai sees it was me who saved him maybe he'll finally fall for me. I'll just swoop in and sweep him off his feet." she joked with a light hearted laugh.

"There you go Rise! But uh..." Teddie suddenly nuzzled her hand, "If it doesn't work with sensei I'll be glad to be swept of my feet." he gave that affectionate growl of his.

Rise scoffed with a warm smile but gently gave his forehead a playful flick, "Nice try buddy."

Teddie giggled and rubbed his forehead as he backed off a bit, "Can't blame a bear for trying."

Rise bent down and suddenly embraced him in a hug, he was surprisingly warm for a suit, "Thank you." she nuzzled his fur for a bit then let go and patted her skirt,"Welp, we should get back to the others and give our reports right?"

Teddie saluted, "Aye Aye captain, let's go!" he smiled and they both headed toward the tower of small TVs feeling comforted for the time being.

- o O o-

"Why does this place even exist?" Yosuke muttered as he eyed a rather ornate looking Knife that he could never afford in his lifetime.

Chie inclined her head checking out a pair of boots that caught her eye, "Be glad that it does, otherwise can you imagine how many times we would have had our ass kicked in battle?"

Yosuke suddenly turned toward Chie, "Well yeah but, this guy doesn't even question selling a whole crapload of weapons to a bunch of teenagers! He doesn't even ask what we use them for and why we keep coming back!"

Chie gave his head a condescending pat, "There there don't think too hard about it. It's probably better for us that he doesn't ask otherwise we'd be stuck explaining things awkwardly and sound like loons."

Yosuke waved her hand away, "It still concerns me."

"Yeah I'm sure it does." Chie turned back around not paying any further attention to the subject and picked up the boots, "Hey do you think these would look cool on me?"

Yosuke groaned, "C'mon Chie it's not about looks, and besides don't go for the super expensive stuff, we gotta have enough to buy new weapons for everyone." he plucked the boots from her hands and set them back much to Chie's displeasure.

"Fine fine, but then how do we do this, buy weapons that are both efficient and strong and yet cheap?"

Yosuke didn't have the answer for that. Neither did Chie of course. They both came to a rather sad conclusion: Souji always bought their weapons for them. He was the one who was better at these kinds of things. They felt a bit bad just leaving it up to him, but he always made the right choices and in the end it helped them out a lot.

Yosuke coughed, "We'll just have to figure it out somehow, I mean we can do it right, pshaw this should be nothing."

Yes he said this, and yet they spent nearly another hour puzzling over which weapons to buy.

Over at the Shiroku store, Naoto and Kanji weren't doing any better.

"Yes Kanji I admit healing items are a top priority but what if we need status healing items?" Naoto frowned looking over several products.

Kanji actually mimicked her frown, "Well yeah a few won't hurt, but what if we seriously need healing and Yukiko-senapi can't do her magic stuff?" he retorted.

Naoto sighed tiredly, "I know that Kanji, but you and Chie are particularly vulnerable to rage, whereas Yukiko and Chie are prone to silence and Yosuke to fear. And what if we were to be poisoned or panicked?" she looked over an odd item which she was certain had been there a couple of weeks, much to her disgust.

Kanji rolled his eyes, "Hell, for fear, panic, and rage we can always give each other a good slap to the face to bring us to our senses."

Nato couldn't deny that method worked plenty of times, but during battle you couldn't have any weaknesses exposed or hindrances that could prevent you from getting the upper hand. So she stubbornly continued to push for more status healing items.

Souji shopped for items too, he knew just the balance between the items. Wow, he sure did a lot for the team that they never really noticed. Oh man now they were feeling guilt for taking him for granted. Well no more, they were going to save him and they would show their appreciation!

But first Kanji had to dissuade Naoto from buying five jars of royal jelly. For what he did not know.

After what seemed like five hours in total, Yosuke, Chie, Kanji, and Naoto finally returned to the Junes food court only to be greeted by the sight of Yukiko and Rise playing a game of tic-tac-toe, apparently the last round of many as several napkins bearing the marks of previous rounds littered the table. Teddie had his head leaning against the table as he seemed to have dozed of waiting while Yukiko and Rise seemed on the verge of joining him as well.

When Rise noticed their presence she didn't look pleased in the least.

"What the hell took you guys so long?!" she cried standing suddenly, "We were waiting forever for you guys ugh, senpai is waiting for us to go and rescue him and you guys are wasting precious time!"

Kanji looked startled from being reprimanded so harshly, "H-hey this isn't as easy as it looks, turns out buying shit actually takes some thought."

Chie groaned and shifted weight to her left leg, "Yeah seriously, we would have been here sooner if Yosuke would stop nagging. 'Oh those are too expensive.' 'Oh those are too weak.'" she mocked in a droning whiny tone.

"Hey, I just want to make sure we're all well prepared for this battle sheesh!" Yosuke shot back nudging Chie's arm roughly.

"Well I hope you got everything and made sure you got it all right, because we're going right now. Like right now." Rise said hurriedly brushing past them.

Yukiko gently rubbed Teddie's back in an attempt to wake him up, only it seemed to succeed in helping him sleep better. As she gently whispered for the sleeping bear boy to wake up he only gave small groans and sighs of wanting to sleep more. Eventually Yosuke stepped in and made some threat about Hanako coming to get him and never before had anyone seen Teddie shoot up so fast and dash for the electronics.

With a rather cruel chuckle Yosuke lead the others in the same direction.

- o O o-

Despite the fact that there was so little fog to the point where they didn't even need the glasses anymore, the TV world seemed thick with tension once more. Yet they all still donned the glasses Teddie had worked so hard to make for them all as it became a habit of them wearing it inside.

Rise was still surprised to feel the energy spike so clearly and in the same direction as well. She felt as though it was mocking her in some way, somehow. But with determination the team set off wherever Rise led them.

The first odd thing they came across as they got closer was a little toy train that chugged right past them, blowing little rings of smoke. The second would have been a medium sized ball as it bounced before them in a circle for a moment before disappearing as soon as it came. As they walked on, the world's sky grew darker, and pine trees sprouted tall and suddenly. The team then found themselves walking through a thick forest area.

Chie wasn't the only one greatly unnerved with the occasional child's echoing giggle resounding amongst the trees, just what kind of world is this and why would it sprout from Souji's true feelings? It only got worse as Yukiko let out a shriek as something fell from the branches and onto the hard ground with a noisy clatter. It was her. Or a better way of saying it would be that it was a puppet of her. Rosy cheeks, a delicate smile drawn on and the clothes it was wearing was the trademark red-sweatered uniform she always wore last year during the investigation. The detail was spot on and this was frightening as soon they noticed puppets hanging from the branches.

There was one for Yosuke, Chie, Kanji, Rise, Teddie, and Naoto too, but they also spotted Nanako, Dojima, Adachi, and several Yasogami high school students as well. All of them had fine details crafted onto them and the likenesses were uncanny.

Everyone agreed when Chie voted that they promptly move on. However as the team turned around and took several steps away more puppets dropped from the branches, but dangled ominously before them.

Everyone's stomach dropped.

These puppets were all too familiar, Yukiko in a gorgeous pink ball gown and a tiny tiara atop her head. Kanji semi-naked save for the bath towel around his waist and red flushed face. Rise in her orange bikini. Teddie in his suit. Naoto in the lab coat. All of them had those eerie glowing yellow eyes.

Yosuke had enough when as if it couldn't get worse, the puppets began to shake violently, their wooden limbs clacking together and they all let out hysterical laughter in their very own voices.

With that he let out a cry and charged through, knives cutting through their strings and letting them all fall to the ran on, leaving the others behind. Chie screamed and kicked her leg, flinging her shadow puppet which clung to her leg, convulsing with crazed laughter. It proved too much to handle for everyone as they avoided the puppets with hasty care before running off to find Yosuke.

"Oh man, oh man, that was some fucked up shit back there, what the hell was that?" Kanji wheezed as the team broke into a clearing, leaving the trees behind.

Kanji's question went unnoticed as they fell silent, Yosuke already standing silently, gaping at the large red and white circus big top tent. Laughter and cheers came from inside, and lights shown outside and dimly from the inside.

"This... Is the world that sprouted from Souji's heart? What the heck is all this?" Chie whispered gazing at the scene with furrowed brows.

"I guess we won't really know until we go inside, right?" Kanji breathed out, adjusting his glasses.

"Guess so." Yosuke shuddered and walked to the entrance, pushing the tarp aside and suddenly all the cheers and laughter stopped leaving an eerie silence in it's wake.

As the others followed behind him the big top proved to be much bigger on the inside than anticipated. In fact it seemed impossibly big and maze like, of course they always were. It was never just easy. Then a voice resonated in the tent, Souji's voice,

"My, it would seem we have some surprise guests. Couldn't wait for the story huh, well I guess that's alright, I love telling stories." he chuckled mischievously.

Suddenly a spot light came on, and revealed a life sized puppet of Souji himself, just as he was back then with the Yasogami school uniform and once again the likeness was uncanny. However he had a deep frown on his face and was slouched as he gazed down at his feet. It was an uncharacteristic pose for him.

"Let's start with the hero of our story. Our hero starts by moving to a new place, away from friends and family to a place he's never been before. He lived in the cities all his life, and moving out to the country to meet different people was daunting. It turns out the little town was in shambles and it was impossibly boring. Our hero could only hope to stumble upon something that would make him feel more at home."

As the voice spoke the puppet looked up at them, swaying in jerky movements before turning, the wooden limbs clanking together noisily as it shambled on into the darkness the spotlight fading with it. Then silence fell for a long while before Teddie whimpered,

"Do we... Follow it?" his round eyes fell on Naoto who shook her head,

"I'm not sure. It could be a trap."

"Well, we won't know standing here." Yukiko inclined her head to look at the others and confidently brushed past all of them, following in the puppets footsteps.

As the others followed her, Teddie abruptly stopped and looked back to see Yosuke was frozen and shivering.

"Yosuke, are you ok?" the bear waddled over to him, breaking his trance as he gave a jolt.

"Yeah, I just... That was really weird." he somewhat lied.

The main reason of his sudden discomfort lied in the fact that for a moment, Souji's shadow sounded too close for comfort to his own shadow. Moving from the city to the country, that boredom that overcame him, only Souji and Teddie were there to see the worst of him that day. It was quite shocking to hear that Souji had hidden away feelings that were quite similar to his. But what didn't make sense to him, was that if the feelings were similar, why didn't the shadow appear earlier, why now to show up and ruin everything.

With a scowl that worried Teddie, Yosuke marched on leaving the bear confused and waddling quickly to keep up.

The circus tent was eerily silent after they entered, with only dim lighting keeping it from being pitch black. Rise worked even harder to sense where shadows were in the darkness and map out the area. Her Cry of alert barely came in time as a shattering roar followed shortly with a large cat pouncing from the shadows onto Naoto. A Nizam Beast roared nearly deafening the poor girl before Kanji managed to get his arms around it's chained neck and strained to pull it off even an inch.

It was Chie who managed to knock the beast away with Haredo-no-Okami's heat wave. The large cat was knocked back with a snarl. Teddie let out a screech as another beast joined into the fray, finding him a suitable chew toy. This one, was not a Nizam Beast, this one was dark grey, with white hairs and it looked incredibly old. This one was an Enslaved beast.

Yukiko managed to pop Teddie out of it's mouth by setting the beast ablaze which seemed to be it's weakness. As it lay stunned Yukiko called upon Sume-Okami to heal him and to heal the puncture wounds the shadow's teeth left.

Teddie quickly picked himself up with a bounce and gave an enraged roar, "Ooooo, you're going to pay for that!" he huffed stopping his foot and brandished his claws charging recklessly at it.

Meanwhile Naoto was recovering from the surprise attack as Rise did her best to heal her wounds as best as possible. Kanji called upon Takeji Zaiten to shock the Nizam Beast while Yosuke followed up with a strong Garudyne attack from Takehaya Susano-o which sent the beast back into shadows. Looking back Yukiko looked shocked as a triumphant Teddie stood upon the fallen body of the Enslaved beast before it dissipated from under him.

"Hey, are you ok?" Kanji knelt down to Naoto who was brushing herself off.

"I'm fine, really." she sighed fixing her hair meticulously, "Cats never liked me, besides I'm more of a dog person anyway." she tried to joke as she stood up.

Rise stood close by to keep her steady, "Careful Naoto." she whispered a word of caution as Naoto swayed slightly.

However, she simply brushed her hair back, "I said I'm fine, let's keep moving." she frowned and moved on, leading the others through the dark circus.

It was rather tiring and taxing on the team. Many more beasts awaited them along with Magical Magus and Wonderful Magus. Needless to say the team could see a circus theme going on here. That was all well and fine, but each time they moved onto a different section of the circus tent, the puppet of Souji would be waiting for them before moving on, each time a different scenario.

"_**Our hero was disappointed to find that his new school wasn't any better than his last, in fact the most interesting thing that happened was a murder investigation going on at the time of his arrival and a strange dream that called to him one night."**_

Here the area of the circus had no enemies oddly. It was only wide and open.

"_**Please avert your attention to the tight rope please."**_

As the team, did as they were told, Yosuke immediately felt sick and wanted to simply fall to the ground. Atop the high wooden beams connected by a taut rope were three familiar hanging bodies, those of Mayumi Yamano, Saki Konishi, and Kinshiro Morooka. Despite Rise's confirmation that they were simply puppets, it didn't help the fact that seeing even a puppet of Saki made Yosuke want to rush into the corner to rid himself of his stomach's contents. The puppets were too life-like for his liking.

"_**Our hero was then approached by some schoolmates and even seemed to make a friend,"**_  
At this point large scaled versions of Chie, Yukiko, and Yosuke's puppets joined in with Souji's.

"_**One rainy night however, by mere curiosity of a circulating rumor, our Hero then discovered he had the power to enter the TV. Suddenly the tiny little town didn't seem so boring as now our hero was tasked with finding the culprit to the ongoing murders."**_

"Ugh, I never thought I'd hope for Souji to just be quiet." Chie groaned.

"I don't see the point he's trying to make. Just what the hell is going on here with all these puppet things?" Kanji huffed wiping his face of some grime that he was sure was shadow slime.

Upon reaching the sixth floor, there was a tent tarp dividing them from the next opening, pulling it back shadow Souji awaited them along with the puppet of himself.

"Congratulations on making it this far, you must really like the story because this is where it gets interesting." he smiled in a childish manner.

"Here our hero must save his friends from the monsters that manifested from their hidden feelings.," he patted the puppet's shoulder and it shuddered with soft clacks.

Then shadow Souji suddenly pointed in the team's direction, "The shadows that came from them threatened the hero's fun and so had to be eliminated immediately." he declared.

The team seemed taken aback, "Wha-? Does he think we're the shadow's?" Yukiko glanced around to make sure he wasn't pointing to anyone else.

"What the hell do you mean fun?! You thought all of that was fun?!" Kanji scowled shaking a fist in the shadow's directions.

Souji seemed surprised to be scolded, taking on an innocent demeanor for a split second before he donned a dark smile, looking at them from under his bangs with a sneer, "And what is I said I did?" he chuckled covering his mouth to hide his smile.

"You-! How dare you!" Chie cried surging forward toward the shadow and it's puppet.

However, just before she could land a solid punch to the shadow's face, the puppet but itself between them, sword in hand. Unfortunately for Chie, the sword was not made of wood, but of actual sharpened steel. Chie was luckily quick enough to the point where the blade only sunk itself into her hip rather than her chest where it was originally aimed.

Yukiko cried out and in a fury sent out Sume-Okami to light the puppet ablaze. Immediately the puppet flinched away making it's aversion to fire known. No surprise considering it being made of wood. As the puppet retreated Yukiko ran forward taking Chie into her arms and asking her persona to heal her already severe wound. With her unrivaled healing ability Chie's wound was sealed in a matter of seconds and looked as if there was never a gash in the first place.  
Naoto frowned and pulled out her pistol and expertly fired several shots into the puppet, the damage being very little as the bullets seared right through the wood leaving only little holes. In retaliation the puppet quickly surged forward to Naoto, only to fake to the left and ram the blunt hilt of the sword into the abdomen of Yosuke who was knocked to the ground before the puppet then held the sword above it's head bearing it down on Teddie, the material being cut by the steel easily.

Kanji let out a roar as he pulled his fist back and put it into the puppet's wooden face, the damage being very little before the puppet counter attacked by swinging the sword his way which it was easily dodged.

Chie managed to sit up and jumped up angrily, "Oh you, you're gonna pay for that!"

Calling her persona Chie let out a roar as she balled up her fist and sent down God's Hand upon the puppet, the damage severe and causing the puppet to loose it's left arm. The puppet merely picked itself up nonchalantly and glanced at it's missing arm without a care before picking up the sword with it's remaining hand.

"Yukiko, hurry light it up!" Rise cried.

With a nod Yukiko tried once more to use Agidyne, however the puppet was quick and avoided fire at all cost.

"I-I can't hit it!" Yukiko growled trying one more time only to have her flames be evaded once more.

Yosuke then came up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder, Takehaya Susano-o behind him, "Try again, this time let me help."

Yukiko was quiet for a moment before she understood with a nod, "Let's end this!"

Sume-Okami raised her hand and set fire toward the puppet who was ready to dodge once more.

"Now! Go!" Yosuke cried out as his persona set a whirlwind toward the puppet who froze seeing both attacks coming toward it. A vortex of wind swirled around the puppet sucking in the fire and essentially creating a fire tornado from which there was no way out.

There was only a clatter and when the wind and fire subsided there was only ashes left in the puppet's place.

Everyone was silent, glancing at the ashes and the lone sword. Well that was over.

"Here Teddie, let me fix you up." Yukiko cooed softly walking over to Teddie who was holding his costume seams together desperately.

Once more she had her persona heal him up while Yosuke walked over and kicked up the ash, "The shadow got away." he muttered darkly.

"We'll catch up to him." Chie smiled confidently punching him in the arm.

Yosuke looked back at her and sighed with a shrug. But she was right, they had to catch up to Souji and save him. So what if he thought it was fun.. Actually it bother him a lot that he thought that. But hell, if Souji could accept him at his worst, he could do the same for him right? Everybody's got an ugly side, Souji apparently was no exception. He needed them now just like they needed him then.

With a new spark of determination Yosuke glanced up and nodded to himself. He looked to the team, who seemed ready to go, just as determined as he.

With one of his grins he thrust a knife into the air, "Well then what are we waiting for, let's go!" he shouted on before turning on his heel and running for the next area with Chie, Yukiko, Rise, Naoto, Kanji and Teddie following close at hand.

Despite their enthusiasm the next few floors really took a toll on them not physically, but spiritually, Yukiko had no more energy in her to heal anyone any longer and they were nearing the last remaining medicine in their inventory.

"I told you we should have gotten more healing items." Kanji murmured to Naoto who only rolled her eyes and stuck out her lower lip in a pout.

It wasn't until Rise warned them of a powerful energy beyond a curtain did Chie stop Yosuke.

"Hey now, are you sure we can handle this?"

"I can't heal you if we go in there." Yukiko frowned apologetically.

"I think we're all low on energy, there's no guarantee our personas will be able to manifest on our low energy levels." Naoto added.

Rise nodded, "Maybe it's best we go back and rest up for now. We can always start back at this area when we come back."

It made sense, if it were Souji he would have turned back. He wouldn't risk the safety of his team for a win. But Yosuke wasn't Souji, he just wanted to hurry and get this over with. He just wasn't as patient as their leader. But in a sense he wasn't going to risk his friends either. And so while it irritated him to come so close just to turn back, Yosuke heeded his comrades words and allowed himself to be led out of the crazed circus tent. It's not like they hadn't made this decision before.

As they left back for the main landing point, Yosuke glanced back only once at the tent and frowned. Oh he'd be back.


	5. Hypocrites?

_**AN: Ok, this is about the time where I'm sure things will star becoming inconsistent and make no sense. Once again, I apologize for everything in advance.**_

* * *

-Summer Day 4-

"Satonaka."

"Yes sir?"

"I need you to come in today, we need help filing documents today."

"O-oh, ok then I'm on my way."

She couldn't have said no. What was she going to say? 'I'm sorry but I'm jumping into a TV to save your nephew?' like he'd believe that.

Chie had woken up early, rested and well prepared for the final battle had taken it's toll but now they were certain to beat Souji's shadow and bring him home. But now Dojima calls her and tells her she has to come into work.

She wasn't really a cop just yet, for now it was just a simple apprenticeship. Honestly it's not how she expected at all, most of the job was paperwork. It was dull and boring and it was easy to see why Dojima was tired most of the day. In fact she feared that if she worked at the station any more she'd become a caffeine addict just as badly as he was.

However she was surprised on the importance of paperwork. Heck if even one paper was misplaced then the whole case could fall apart. Despite knowing it's importance now, Chie still preferred the fieldwork to the paperwork. She didn't care if it was the cliche image of rescuing cats from trees, or just patrolling the areas. She vastly preferred it to the paperwork.

She sighed.

But hey, someone has to do it. Everything had to be meticulously recorded and archived for the paperwork to be submitted, reviewed, and/or approved. And if that led to the bad guys behind bars, well then heck Chie Satonaka would file paperwork for all her life was worth.

But that didn't mean she liked it.

And so was her dilemma. Go with friends to save their leader in distress, or go work for said leader's uncle and not arouse any suspicions? If she said she couldn't come in, not only would she get a reprimanding, she would have to fabricate a pretty damn good excuse. And not only that, but Dojima was stressed about Souji missing as it was, if she were to ditch her duties he'd only be more so.

This is why Chie flipped open her cell and dialed Yukiko's number.

It range several times before Yukiko actually picked up.

"Hello, Chie?"

"Hey Yukiko, I'm sorry, but I can't go today..." she flinched and felt her stomach drop, she felt as though she was letting her team down horribly.

"You see Dojima-san just called and... I can't just say no..."

"It's ok, I understand." her voice was surprisingly gentle.

"But Yukiko you don't get it, I feel so terrible now. What if you guys go in without me and something happens to you all and I'm not there to help?" she cried, "I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that. We're a team you and I, if I'm not there to protect you then-!" her voice fell silent.

Yukiko was quiet for a long moment, "It's ok Chie, we'll be fine. I'll be fine."

"No!" Chie suddenly interjected stubbornly, "I've made up my mind, you guys aren't going ok? Not without me!"

"But Chie-!"  
"No, I'm sure Souji is strong enough to last one more day, I just-!" she bit her lip searching for a way to make this sound not selfish at all, "I just don't want any of you to get hurt. And I want to be there to punch that stupid dummy Shadow in the face!" she tried to sound her usual happy self, but her voice betrayed her.

More silence, "I.. I understand, I really do Chie but the others-"

"No Yukiko!" she placed her hand on her hips, "Promise me you won't go. Please Yukiko, promise!" oh god she sounded desperate, but she didn't care. If Yosuke, or Yukiko, or anybody got hurt and she wasn't there to do anything about it, well then she would just fall apart.

"I promise..." after a moment of hesitation Yukiko responded.

Chie sighed in relief, "Thank you. I know I'm horrible for making you promise that, but I promise that tomorrow we'll charge in there and save the day like we always do." she smiled and hoped Yukiko got the sincerity in her voice.

Yukiko gave a small giggle, "All right then, I'm holding you to that promise."

"As am I holding you to yours." Chie giggled back, "I'll see you tomorrow ok?"

"Ok."

"Bye-bye."

"Bye."

Chie flipped her phone shut and changed her clothes into something a tad more professional. It seemed unlike her to wear a dress shirt, and pants. She pinned her hair back as best she could while attempting to wiggle her way into a rather stiff work jacket and slipping on some shoes with moderate heels. Oh man and she had to walk in these, thank god she actually didn't live that far from the police station. She bid farewell to her mother and walked out the door quickly.

When she hurried over to the station she was thankful for the cold rush of air as she walked through the doors. She then reported to Dojima to begin today's apprenticeship. She sat with most of the receptionists filing paperwork, and filing more paperwork, and even then filing more paperwork. She was incredibly bored to the point where she was actually thankful for when Dojima would ask her for a cup of coffee. Not only did it give her a chance to get up and walk, but also allowed her to get a cup herself.

It was almost scary that she knew just how Dojima liked his coffee by this said he liked it black, but in honesty he actually liked it with just a dash of sugar. She herself loved it with french vanilla cream. She carefully held both cups in each hand, remembering which was which before making her way to Dojima's office.

She found him slumped over his desk, head in his hands, looking quite miserable.

Chie's heart flew out to him. It was understandable. His nephew just went missing and poor Nanako was probably heartbroken. She imagined him having to explain it to her, having to explain why he could protect her big bro, his own nephew. He must be working just as hard to find Souji as they were. Suddenly Dojima became that much more admirable in her eyes.

"Here you go sir." she whispered setting his cup gently on his desk.

"Thank you Satonaka-san."

Wow was it weird to hear herself being called Satonaka-san. It was so formal, she wasn't used to it.

Just as she was about to walk out back to the receptionist area,

"You know where he is don't you?"

The question flew out of nowhere and metaphorically slapped her in the face.

"I-I'm sorry, excuse me sir?" she turned back to him, body recoiling.

Dojima looked at her with stern, tired eyes, "You know where Souji is, don't you?"

Chie fidgeted nervously, Dojima was an intimidating figure, and when he looked at her with those hard eyes it was hard to think straight.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about. If I knew where he was, he would be here right now." she tried to sound confident.

"Don't lie to me Satonaka." his voice was sharp, "I know your little group was always with him twenty-four seven. You all were gone most of the days, coming and going to Junes and it's electronics section."

Aw shit what does she say now?

Luckily he continued on, "I have a feeling that this is related to those incidents last year, where everyone in your little group went missing at one point or another."

Oh man oh man he knows.

"Then I remembered when Nanako went missing, Souji said something about a TV world. Of course I didn't believe him. Not when he told me Nanako was going to be thrown into a TV. But then shortly after he said she would be, she went missing." His face contorted in pain at the memory.

This is getting awkward.

"So I decided to trust him and sure enough, you all left and came back with Nanako."

He looked to her with a deep frown, "I'm not sure if the whole TV world is real. I don't understand and I'm not sure I want to." he scowled.

Then his features softened and suddenly he looked tired and old, "But I'm going to trust you guys one more time." he took a shuddering breath, "Just please find him and bring him back."

Chie was at a loss for words. She was just glad she wasn't gaping like she usually did when she was surprised. She opened her mouth once or twice to say something, but only silently stumbled over her words.  
Eventually she took a steadying breath and put on a determined smile, "Don't worry sir. We'll bring him back safe and sound, ok?"

Dojima gave a weary smile and nodded, "Thank you." he turned back to his desk and reached for the coffee she had set out for him.

"By the way," Chie was interrupted from leaving once more, "Since I'm trusting you with this task, you don't have to come in until it's done. I'm going to call in someone else to help out around with all these cases so you don't have to worry."

Chie wasn't sure what to say about that, "Oh. Ok then. See you sir."

And with that she left back for her seat and nearly melted into it. That was stressful for her, wow that whole conversation could have gone bad really fast but it remained surprisingly calm and sane and he didn't explode on her. She sighed and took a big chug from her coffee before remembering it was still hot.

- o O o-

That wasn't the only surprise of the day. After their little chat, Dojima found Chie still at work at her desk and insisted that she leave early, her assistance no longer needed for the time being. Happy and thankful, she called Yukiko up as she rushed home to tell her to have the group meet at Junes. It seems that they would be going today after all.

When Chie arrived in her more casual wear this time, they all had serious looks on their faces and were ready for anything. Chie now felt that she had to accomplish this more than ever, Dojima was counting on her, and so was Nanako. And so with determination set in her heart, Chie was the first to plunge into the TV and run up to the circus tent.

Thanks to Rise they started off right at the curtain where they left.

"Are you sure you guys are ready?" Rise asked unsurely.

"Heck yeah we're ready, let's do this thing and rescue senpai!" Kanji declared.

"I agree." Naoto nodded in confirmation.

Yosuke pulled back the curtain to reveal the big top circus. There was a single ring in the center with seating surrounding the whole stage. In the center of the stage was Souji's Shadow looking rather melancholy.

When approached his gaze was on the floor, hands held behind his back which was turned to them.

"That's not how the story went." he whispered with a disappointed gaze.

There was something wrong. Rise scanned the whole stage but...

"Souji's not here." she declared.

The shadow was right in front of them, clear as day, and yet the real Souji was nowhere to be found. Hearing her remark the Shadow decided to comment, still not facing them.

"You're wrong. I am here. I'm right here."

"We're not talking about you!" Teddie pointed out waving his fingers(?) at the shadow.

"Then who else could you be talking about? Are you looking for someone else?" the shadow replied despondently.

"Where is Souji, you better tell us where he is!" Chie threatened balling up her fists.

The shadow turned rather angrily, "I said I'm right here!" it cried, "I am Souji, and Souji is me! You think you would have that memorized by now!" it hissed.

"You ruined it, you ruined the story. You were supposed to not make it past that part." it bit it's lip in frustration.

"We don't care for your childish story." Naoto scolded loading her pistol.

"Well I do." the shadow scowled, "It's the best memory I have, the best thing that happened to me."

"You call those murders the best thing that ever happened to you?!" Yosuke shouted,"How dare you call them that."

The shadow inclined it's head and looked at them condescendingly, "So people were killed. I'm not jumping for joy over that. But it's not like I knew them personally. It's hard to feel sad about someone you don't know." it stated with a shrug.

"Besides, while the murders may have started it, it was the mystery I liked. The kidnappings, those were fun." it chuckled darkly.

Kanji seemed shocked for a moment before he glared "Hey! Those were our lives on the line dammit!"

Shadow Souji frowned and put his chin in his hand thoughtfully, "Yes, but you were all saved and nothing bad happened to you. So why so angry?" it honestly looked innocent for a moment, "Besides, you all have to admit it yourselves, you found it fun too. Going into a TV and discovering the worlds inside it. Then going back into the real world and having to solve a mystery. It's like something out of a book, or a movie, or maybe a game." it laughed.

The team fell silent.

"Yosuke if I recall, you said that it gave you a purpose didn't it? You all decided it was a common goal you all had to work towards." it's smile grew as it knew it had hit a spot, "Hehe, and you can't deny we all bonded over it. Answer me honestly, do you think we would even be friends if not for this?"

Chie's heart skipped.

"We wouldn't have even given each other a passing glance if not for this. Chie, you only approached me because you thought I could tell you something interesting. Yukiko didn't even acknowledge me until Chie pointed me out. Yosuke you just thought I was a city boy who would keep you entertained. Kanji would have chased us all away and we wouldn't even have associated with him in the first place. Naoto wouldn't even be here if not for the murders. And Rise wouldn't even know we existed. Heck Teddie would never even come into our thoughts in a million years."

Silence befell the ring.

"I had fun. I really did. Fighting and solving the mystery. Wouldn't it be fun if it started happening again?"

It was then that Naoto spoke up, "Is that what you meant when you said that more channels were to come to the Midnight Channel?"

The shadow only nodded in confirmation.

"That's sick!" Yukiko cried taking a step forward, "How dare you want to risk people's lives just so you could keep having fun!"

"You say you felt nothing over the murders, that doesn't make it right! Those people meant something to other people, Saki senpai was important to me!" Yosuke cried angrily.

"Sorry to rain on your parade pal, but we're not going to let you have your fun this way, we're not going through all that all over again. So just suck it up and deal with it!" Kanji waved his fist in the air.

The shadow seemed taken aback by everyone's strong responses, golden eyes scanning each of their angered faces before looking down to the ground.

"You all are so mean."

The team went silent with confusion.

"I accepted you all at your worst and here you are reprimanding me at mine. Hypocrites." It smiled wide.

"Hahahaha, you all think you're safe don't you?"

Rise quickly felt the shadow's energy spike to higher levels.

"You all think you're safe because the other me isn't here to reject me don't you?" the shadow suddenly doubled over covering it's face, "Well you're wrong." it sneered peeking up at the through it's fingers, those gold eyes piercing them.

"Be careful you guys, his shadow's going berserk!" Rise stated.

Teddie bounced back, "But how, Sensei isn't here, he never rejected it!"

Rise summoned Kouzeon and prepared for battle, "I know, but it doesn't matter, it's going berserk anyway! Get ready you guys."

The team then braced itself as Souji's shadow began to glow a dark aura as smaller shadows flocked to it before bursting into a black wave of energy.

What was left in the shadow's place was a monster shadow, one that looked very similar to a Jack-in-the-box. It's torso jutting out of a black and white striped box with a handlebar at the arms writhed from said torso, one pair covering it's eyes, the other covering it's ears, and the other pair just casually in the air, poised for attack. It's body was bisected into the left side being white, and the other being gray. Still stop it's head was a black and white jester's hat with loud oversized bells.

"I am a shadow. The true self." it chuckled.

Chie hopped from one foot to another, "Alright you guys, let's do this!"

Yosuke as the fastest started out with summoning Takehaya Susano-o and performing Garudyne, wind slicing at high speeds towards the shadow. The damage was fairly average,however the shadow only laughed foolishly and smiled widely.

Chie jumped up to summon her persona causing damage to herself as she sent God's Hand down upon the shadow, fairly severe but not enough to make much of a noticeable dent.

Yukiko then let an inferno of fire free, engulfing the shadow entirely in it's flames. However when the flames dispersed the shadow had retreated into it's box, the lid shut tightly.

"Now what do we do?" Teddie frowned fidgeting cautiously after a moment of silence.

"I don't kn-"

At that moment the handle of the box began to move, playing that childish song of pop goes the weasel slowly as it echoed throughout the stage. Slowly, agonizingly , before it came close to the end and the team put up it's defenses just before the shadow sprang up from it's box. It's free hands outstretched and as it swiped it's hands across knocking the whole team back, but luckily the damage was reduced.

"Some friends you are." it taunted returning to it's previous position just as Kanji let loose Primal force this time knocking the shadow back.

Naoto followed up, calling forth Yamato Sumeragi and slicing through with Vorpal blade.

The Shadow itself, not yet done but having found itself at the halfway mark growled. With a flick of it's wrists, fire spread out, catching Chie by surprise and sending her back and unconscious. Again while Yukiko hurried off to help her back onto her feet, Souji's shadow then reached up and brought down lighting down onto Yosuke. However, being as quick as he was, he evaded it with ease.

Teddie then bounced forward eagerly claws outstretched, and teeth bared but instead Kamui-Moshiri appeared smile as big as ever before performing a Bufudyne attack, the ice crawling up the box of the shadow and covering it's attacking hands in hard cold ice.

The shadow gave a displeased shudder, it's lips forming a scowl before it swung it's arms back at Teddie, the hard ice serving as a blunt object as it hit Teddie dead on. Like a baseball Teddie was sent flying before coming to a halt after several bounces.

Whilst the shadow busied itself with bashing the ice off it's arms quickly, Yukiko had managed to pull Chie back onto her feet and cast mediarahan on the team while Chie rushed up Haraedo-no-Okami close behind as she brought down her kick, so did her persona bring down it's weapon up the iced arms of the shadow, successfully shattering them and now leaving it without any method of physical offense.

"Are you guys ready? Take it down now while you can!" Rise declared as a battle cry, signaling for the others to prepare.

"Alright, you're going down!" Kanji cried, the first to charge at the shadow, leading the others.  
With weapons at hand, and personas loyally at their backs they rushed forward, the shadow stood no chance as it fell to the force and relentless attacks of the investigation team.

Personas faded away as the dust settled, revealing a breathless team and a more than bewildered shadow Souji, reverted back to his original form. Dazed the shadow only sat dizzily swaying as it intently stared at the ground. Not long though, it stared at the team with a playful glint in it's eyes before jumping up cheerfully and brushing itself off nonchalantly.

"Well that was fun, how about another go?" the shadow smiled and adjusted it's jester hat.

Naoto nearly collapsed from exhaustion, "It's not.. Down yet?"

"It must be because Souji's not here to accept it." Yukiko whimpered.

"So it's just going to keep coming at us?" Yosuke groaned adjusting his headphones.

"You didn't have as much fun as me? How sad. Unfortunately I'm done playing with you guys." it tilted its head suddenly looking uninterested.

"Done playing with us? But we're not done beating you to a pulp!" Kanji exclaimed.

The shadow scowled at him and groaned, "Wow are you guys pushy. Too bad I'm done here, I guess you guys were better than me after all." it shrugged before giving a chilling sadistic smirk, "Have fun with the others, I'm sure they'll be much more fun than me." it winked before disappearing in a dark black mist.

"Wait! Just where do you think-" Rise huffed as it was gone before she could interfere.

The team was silent for a long time, absorbing what had just happened, letting it's words sink in.

"Others..." Yukiko whispered.

"Does that mean there are others already in here?" Teddie looked to Rise with a concerned frown.

Rise shook her head in disbelief, "No. No there can't be. I sensed no other energies here or anywhere else, there is no one else in the TV!" she sounded as though she was trying to convince herself rather than the others.

"Ok yeah I can see how that can be pressing, but what I want to know.. Is where is senpai?" Kanji was examining the area, but there was no sign of their leader whom they had come searching for.

Yosuke, in frustration, threw one of his knives to the ground, "What the hell, we risk our lives and he's not even here? What the fuck?!"

He found a hand on his shoulder, "Calm down Yosuke-senpai. There has to be a logical explanation for all this. We'll watch the midnight channel again tonight for clues." she muttered looking down at the ground.

No one wanted to admit they were genuinely upset about this whole turn of events. Souji's shadow had said things that legitimately upset them. They never would have imagined his shadow to say such drastic things and seem so... Unperturbed by them. It just didn't seem like him at all, their once so highly idolized leader suddenly didn't seem so perfect in their eyes and for a moment they were angry.  
But he was their friend who had pulled through for them many times, so they could do the same.

Chie stretched and sighed, "Next time for sure. You guys can bet on it!" she cheered. How she would explain it to Dojima though would be difficult. 'Sorry I couldn't bring him back.' but no, there was a next time and she would bring him back. For Dojima, and Nanako, and for Souji.

"Well.. Good job everyone. Let's just.. Go home and watch for clues." Rise forced a hopeful smile.

The tired team nodded and followed her out the twisted tent. Today's trial was simply the first of many, the next to start sooner than they expected.

- o O o-

"_Phew-! I'm glad they pulled out of that one..."_

"_Yes, they did marvelously for their first trial."_

"_Indeed, let's see if their resolve holds out as more pawns are thrown onto the chess board shall we? Hehehe.."_

"_Ok why are you chuckling, I don't like it when you chuckle weirdly like that."_

"_It seems this will have a few unexpected turns even I did not foresee."_

"_Why what, what do you mean by that? Woah who is this? Who is that?"_

"_He appears to be a vital piece in this game, though I do not know who he is."_

"_Hmhmhmhmh, ah seeing his face brings back fond memories. I shall eagerly await to see the outcome of this turn of events."_

"_... You're really creepy have I ever told you that?"_


End file.
